“You’re pushing me,” he warned.

“I want you to see what I’m dying to give you.”

Axel took her face in his big hands. “You want to show me?”

She nodded too quickly, aware that she was making the same mistake she had more than once—throwing herself at him. But damn it, this man made her lose all self-control. “Please tell me you want to see me.”

“Oh, yeah. But we’re going to do this my way. Stand.”

Mystery wasn’t at all surprised when he took control. She’d expected it, hoped for it. Since he’d divulged the fact that he was Dominant, she’d done some reading and talking to people in the lifestyle. She probably only knew enough to be dangerous, but what she’d learned had prepared her to roll with his commands.

On shaking legs, she backed off his lap and rose to her feet in front of him, wearing her jeans and sandals and not much else.

“You listen well and you take direction nicely. Have you strolled down this path before?”

She knew he asked if she’d ever dabbled in BDSM. After the lies she’d already told him, she wanted to stick with as much of the truth as possible. “Not personally. I know something about it, though.”

He sat up straighter with a long, slow smile. “Looks like my afternoon just got more interesting. You wearing panties?”

She nodded, then remembered he liked verbal responses. “Yes, Axel.”

Mystery nearly bit her tongue after that. Crap, she didn’t need to jog his memory about their days together in Death Valley. On the other hand, how many women since then had given him their assent to do his worst using just those words? She tried not to answer herself.

He cocked his head again. “Compliant. But I still see your head working. Interesting . . . Strip off everything but the panties.”

She probably should have thought of it sooner, but he didn’t have a single drape covering the windows, and the blinds had been opened all the way to their casings, leaving the glass bare. Houses surrounded him. Could any of his neighbors see inside his place?

“You’re hesitating,” he observed. “Tell me the problem.”

“I’m eager to show you what you asked to see.” She cast her gaze along the back wall of windows again. “I don’t really want to show anyone else.”

“While you’re with me, it’s my job to keep you safe and protected. I realize you don’t know me, and I’m asking for a lot of trust, so I’m going to be lenient. My neighbors on the left don’t have any windows facing this direction. My neighbors on the right are in Cabo all week. I’ve intentionally grown the trees in my backyard tall enough to block the sight line between the second story windows of the house behind me and my own. Any other questions?”

In short, no one would be able to sneak a cheap peek—or snapshot—of her. Mystery dragged in a steadying breath and thought the situation through once more. “I don’t think so.”

“Good. Now take off everything but your panties.”

Mystery didn’t make a striptease out of his command. After all, she wanted to make love with him, not give him a lap dance.

After she kicked off her shoes, she found unbuttoning her pants, lowering the zipper, and peeling the denim down her hips a little unnerving. He watched her with that intent, almost unblinking stare, as if nothing in the world could break his concentration. After she’d overheard a woman in a pub just last week complain that a guy she’d picked up had actually been texting his boss while pumping inside her, Mystery found Axel’s single-mindedness so sexy.

The jeans fell past her knees, and she stepped out of them. She trembled all over, and he could have no illusions that she was cold, not with these warm temperatures. She felt almost naked, and his stare raked every inch of her. Had he noticed that her panties were sheer? That she’d waxed bare?

He scooted to the edge of the sofa and leaned forward, his face less than a foot from her pussy. “Come closer.”

Her knees nearly knocked together as she inched toward him. He kept gesturing her in his direction, and she shuffled nearer until he curled a hand around her thigh to stay her.

Axel didn’t speak right away. He hadn’t done anything more than kiss and look at her, so his thumb sliding across the thin, transparent fabric over the pad of her pussy made her gasp.

“Wet,” he remarked. “I like that.”

He lifted his thumb, and since he’d pressed the panties to her flesh, Mystery couldn’t miss the way the soaking cloth clung. “I am.”

“My doing?”

“Totally.”

His smile widened. “I like that even more.”

And when he raised his thumb to his mouth and licked it, she felt absolutely faint. Oh, holy crap . . .

“Sweet. I’ll enjoy spreading you wide and getting my mouth on your cunt. Will you trust me enough to spread your pretty legs and tie them down so you’re nice and helpless?”

His words ripped an almost visceral arousal through her. For a shocking moment, she couldn’t speak. She wanted this man so much. In the past, sex had been mostly about curiosity or combating boredom or because she hoped she’d find someone who flipped her switch more than Axel.

Now she knew better.

“I-Is that what you want?”

He gripped her hips and tugged her closer, then lapped his tongue directly against the filmy mesh shielding her pussy.

“To start. Will you be a good girl and let me?”

*   *   *

“YES.” She couldn’t seem to say the word fast enough.

Axel didn’t bother to hold in his satisfied smile. He had more than a few reasons to be suspicious of not-Elise. She’d singled him out in a bar that obviously wasn’t her type of joint with seduction on her mind. He didn’t worry for his safety, his “fortune,” or any blackmail opportunities. The vibe she gave off was more eager than nefarious.

Originally, he’d taken her up on her offer because she was a beautiful woman with all the right curves who looked in desperate need of corrupting. And she’d be an interesting riddle to solve. Axel knew himself too well. If he’d let her go without exploring who she was and what she wanted, it would bug him to no end.

Time to see what the hell she was up to. Then he’d find out what she knew about submission and exactly how much of herself she was willing to give him.

“Turn around.” He motioned with his fingers.

She complied right away, stopping after a one-eighty turn and presenting him a view of her backside, covered only by the tiniest triangle of fabric at the small of her back. If her ass wasn’t the most luscious he’d ever seen in his entire fucking life, it was in the top two. High, firm, round . . . Lust dropped another dose of desire into his already saturated system. The dainty bow perched on each hip only accentuated her tiny waist above the womanly flare of her hips. He already knew her natural breasts would be damn close to a perfect handful—a shock since he was a man with big hands.

The woman flipped a nervous stare over her shoulder. “Axel?”

“You’re beautiful,” he assured her. He wanted her off-base enough to spill the truth about her name and why she’d sought him, but he didn’t want her self-conscious. “Back that pretty ass up and bring it to me.”

Once he touched and kissed it . . . Hell, once he paddled and fucked it, he’d be a happy man.

She shuffled back to him, and he wanted to drown in that untapped sexuality she dripped. Her body looked ripe for satisfaction but everything about her told him she hadn’t really ever found it. For some reason, he loved the thought of being the man to give her all she craved.

But he also couldn’t shut off the analytical side of his brain. Why did she look familiar? She was in her mid-twenties, give or take a couple of years. Her British accent was almost flawless, but every once in a while, she’d slip up with an ah sound in place of an o vowel—a distinctly American quality. Her skin was unlike a fair English rose’s. The olive of her complexion suited the pretty oval of her face and the smooth satin covering her body, all the way down to that perfect ass. She wore too much makeup, and he’d like it gone so he could really see her. And he’d bet her hair wasn’t any shade of red, but something darker, glossier. Brunettes turned him on, always had.